adminBLUE RIBBON blitzed their way into the quarter-finals of the Mbada Diamonds Cup with a clinical destruction of Shabanie Mine at Ascot here yesterday.
Coach Misheck Chidzambwa, on his return to a city where he enjoyed a successful stint with Air Force of Zimbabwe side Chapungu, saw the football gods smile on him early on when Shabanie Mine goalkeeper Roy Mazingi fumbled Charles Rukwanhi’s free-kick into the nets.
Then a 11-minute second half spell saw a brace from Felix Kuswatuka and a neat tap in by man-of-the-match Erea Phiri put the game beyond the reach of a Shabanie Mine outfit that was not as horrible as the scoreline would suggest. Luke Masomere’s charges looked up for the fight, hitting the ground running and asking some serious questions of Blue Ribbon goalkeeper Jonathan Zvaita with Rowan Nenzou having his rising shot parried away for a corner. Then Mazingi’s howler swung the pendulum against his team on 18 minutes.
Rukwanhi’s low free-kick looked harmless until the Shabanie Mine goalkeeper’s disastrous attempt to gather it. With Mazingi’s confidence shattered, Blue Ribbon sought to press on and could have doubled their lead on 20 minutes but Phiri drilled wide off a Tawanda Munesti cross.
At the other end, Kudzanai Kwashi beat an exposed Zvaita with a curling shot but Brighton Tuwaya materialised from nowhere to scoop the ball for a corner.
Bongani Ndlovu
- Chronicle
- June 2, 2026
- 32 views
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